“Let's say in the off-chance he does come, you're going to kill him?”
“Eventually, yes,” Dajuan said. “But it will be slow.”
“If it will make you happy, we'll make the call but I know Purdue very well. I don't think he's going to give you the answer you want. Being difficult is part of who he is.”
Mama May's claims about Sam had Purdue feeling pretty distressed and helpless. He didn't want Sam to drown. He should never have sent Sam practically alone on a quest like that. Purdue had just been so focused at the time on uncovering the truth about the old lady and her minions that he lost sight of the other potential dangers that the Order of the Black Sun might be facing. Of course Sam could be in trouble; they were possibly dealing with a Greek god. That screaming man of water that ripped apart the compound should have been the priority, not enemies that Purdue still couldn't find. Now Sam might drown for Purdue's mistake.
The phone rang. Miraculously, the screen displayed Sam's name. It was like the phone could sense Purdue's unease and was trying to calm him down and reassure him that everything with Sam was okay. There was no way that Sam drowned and was calling from the bottom of the sea.
Purdue snatched up the phone and answered. “Aye?” His greeting was casual, trying not to act too panicked. Mama May's vague warning was making him act ridiculously paranoid, that was all. “Sam? That you?”
“Hey, Purdue,” Sam said. It was nice to hear Sam's voice but something sounded off about his tone. “I'm very, very glad you picked up.”
“Good to hear from you too,” Purdue said honestly. “What's going on?”
“Well the good news is that we now have two of the three pearls. The bad news is...as we speak, Daisy, Aya, and I are strapped to chairs and there's a very angry man with a knife.”
Purdue thought he misheard for a second, before his brain clicked into defense mode. This wasn't a social call, after all, and it wasn't the reassuring update that Purdue was hoping for. There were murmurs on the other end of the line and Purdue tried his hardest to make out what was being said since lives could be on the line.
“This charming Jamaican gentleman threatening our lives wants to speak with you, Purdue. If you have a minute, that is.”
Sam's emphasis on “Jamaican” was definitely deliberate. That was a detail that he would have left out unless he knew it would mean something to Purdue. He was trying to forewarn Purdue about something. The only Jamaicans that Purdue knew would have reason to take his colleagues hostage were dead. The Wharf Man drowned in the ocean. Purdue had stabbed Alton personally. Oniel was gone too and that mute wouldn't exactly have been able to talk on the phone anyway. So what Jamaican was Sam even talking about? There was no one left that was gunning for Purdue.
“He wants to talk to me? Absolutely, aye. I'll gladly make time to have a proper chat. Put him on, please.”
The voice that came through the speakers wasn't one that Purdue recognized but the hostility was somewhat familiar. The man wasted no time in revealing why he seemed familiar.
“You are David Purdue, hmm?” the man on the other end of the phone line asked with a heavy Jamaican accent. “Well, David Purdue, let me tell you how this is going to go. We are going to kill your friends just like you killed the Wharf Man. Then we are coming for you.”
So that's what this was all about. The angry man was a friend of the Wharf Man so naturally he would be a bit displeased with Purdue. He was trying to get some retribution.
“That's scary, aye, but a bit rude to not even introduce yourself before you start making threats. How the hell am I supposed to know to fear you, if I don't even know what to call you? 'That angry man on the phone' isn't all that terrifying, eh? See what I mean?”
The Jamaican man let out something of a growl through the speaker before obliging. “My name is Dajuan. You killed a man that I thought like a father. That is going to be dealt with. But since you are not here, your friends will have to do.”
“Or you could release them. You should deal with me personally. Surely that's why you called? Not just to tell me that you're going to hurt people that I work with. That's a weak play, lad. Very weak. You're going to have to do much better than that. That's not half as intimidating as anything your old, fat boss used to do.”
Purdue had negotiated with enough deranged lunatics to know that words didn't really matter. No matter what deals were worked out or promises were made, the man on the other end would end up doing whatever they really wanted to do. That's just how people were, especially people that wanted to do harm. If they wanted to inflict a great deal of pain, they would find a way to do it.
“I called because I wanted your thoughts on what I should do with them. Give me your honest opinion, hmm? Should I cut your friends into little, tiny pieces? I could take their skin, send you their hides if you want. Or maybe I will drown them, just like you did to the Wharf Man. That would start making us even.”
Mama May's words of warning echoed through Purdue's brain.
“Your friend is going to drown.”
Was this it? Was this what she had seen? Sam Cleave being dropped to the bottom of the ocean by the Wharf Man's apprentice...Purdue couldn't let that happen—not when he caused all of this by going to the Wharf Man in the first place. Sam, Daisy, Aya...none of them should have to suffer for a choice Purdue made alone in a desperate situation and under circumstances that weren't exactly ideal.
But, it wasn't like Purdue could stop this Dajuan bastard from hurting them. He was countless miles away. Purdue should have gone with Sam like Sam had wanted at the start. At least then, Dajuan could focus his blood lust on just Purdue. From where he was, there was nothing Purdue could do to stop Mama May's vision for Sam from happening. He would drown—and Purdue wouldn't even have a chance to save him from his fate.
“So this isn't even a ransom situation, aye? No amount of money could change your mind?”
“No!” Dajuan hissed. “This has nothing to do with money. This is about life for life, an exchange.”
“I thought it was just for the Wharf Man? Sure he was a very big lad but he can't have been worth multiple lives. I don't care if he weighed as much as three other people put together, that's just not fair.”
“It was not just him! The other men on the submarine you sunk! Alton! Oniel!”
Those were actually valid points, Purdue had to admit. There wasn't going to be any way to talk Dajuan out of it, that much was clear. He was fully committed to the harshest and most violent course of action.
“So that's the only way we can resolve this then, aye? With you slaughtering friends of mine? That's mature. No chance for an actual discourse.”
“No,” Dajuan growled. “I will tell you where we are. You can come if you want. Depending on what I decide to do with them, you might find what is left of your friends.”
Purdue could feel the conversation drawing to a futile ending. There wasn't any negotiation to be had. This entire phone call was just Dajuan's way of making his presence known. He was just putting himself on display, showcasing all of his violent tendencies to make it clear that he wasn't someone to be trifled with. It was a crude tactic but was proving to be fairly effective, since Purdue's blood was boiling from his helplessness to assist his friends.
Dajuan gave him the location and then laughed. “Yes, I think I will leave little pieces of them here just as keepsakes for you. Yeah. A finger or a toe.”
Purdue couldn't play calm anymore. This new threat was really going to try to hurt them. “Let them go! Now!”
“That is not going to happen, David Purdue. You should never have double-crossed the Wharf Man. Never. No one had ever done it before and you should not have been the first.”
“He double-crossed me first—”
Dajuan obviously wasn't in the mood to listen to reason. “Any final words to your friends?”
The phone call lingered in a slow, static-filled moment. Purdue didn't know what to say, he had no idea where to even
begin. He wanted to apologize and admit that he was to blame for them even ending up in this awful, possibly fatal, position.
Sam spoke before Purdue had the chance to find his own words. “Don't worry about us, Purdue. This guy isn't the Wharf Man. He is all talk and very little bite. You should see him. He's not much—”
There was a crash and Sam let out a pained groan. Dajuan evidently had more bite than Sam claimed.
“Sam. Daisy. Aya. I'm so sorry this is happening. I will—”
“Goodbye, David Purdue,” Dajuan cut in. “I hope we will meet very soon.”
The phone call ended, leaving Purdue sitting alone in stunned silence. At any second, Sam Cleave could be dead. Mama May was right—and Purdue should have been there to help his friend.
Sam spat some blood onto the floor. Dajuan had some fairly sharp knuckles that made his punches have a little extra spice. Sam shook his head, trying to toss away the pain. If this was his end, he wasn't going to give Dajuan the satisfaction of seeing him hurt or afraid. He was going to die with his dignity well intact.
“Is that really all you got?”
Another punch knocked against his skull.
“I am going to kill you last,” Dajuan said, leaning down so his face was right in front of Sam's, close enough that his putrid breath brushed against Sam's cheek. “That way, you can watch these women hurt. And they will. You can see which of them is the toughest, see which one can stay alive the longest.”
Dajuan really was more of a monster than an actual human being. Aya wasn't exaggerating at all when she described him. On the contrary, she might have actually undersold just how bad he could be.
Dajuan turned away, his back to his prisoners, like he was mulling over his potential options. The scenes he was probably imagining must have been horrifying. He looked over his tray of sharp instruments like a painter deciding on a brush.
Sam saw the pearl resting beside the tray. If only he had that in his grasp. He could use it to shoot blasts of water from the pipes above, probably hit Dajuan with enough water to bring him down. But he wasn't touching the pearl. He wasn't even close to being able to take hold of it and use its power.
It occurred to him that the second pearl wasn't beside the first. He glanced down around the dark room but didn't see the pearl necklace until his gaze shifted back to Erica's neck. It was still there, the pearl was just hanging beside the other beads on her collar.
Dajuan's back was still to them. This was Sam's best chance to really communicate but he would have to be quiet. It was just dumb luck that Erica was seated beside him.
“The pearl,” Sam muttered very quietly under his breath and out of the corner of his mouth. He needed to be quiet enough that Dajuan couldn't hear but loud enough for Erica to be able to understand what he was saying. “You have to use your pearl...”
“What?” Erica whispered back, her worried gaze still on Dajuan. She was very careful with her volume. “What do you mean?”
He felt bad for Erica. She was the least involved with any of this. She wasn't part of the Order of the Black Sun. She was barely even an acquaintance of Sam's but now she could be killed just because of the minimal association. She was just with the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. She shouldn't have even been there to begin with and now the heiress might suffer some horribly gruesome death.
Erica probably had no idea what any of this was even about. Aya knew how dangerous Dajuan was personally and Daisy joined the Order of the Black Sun knowing that things could get dangerous for its members. The two of them at least knew something like this was always a real possibility and had a chance of happening. Erica didn't understand that. She joined the journey out of stubbornness and curiosity, nothing more. She didn't deserve to die for that but now she was going to anyway. It wasn't fair at all.
“The pearl is touching you. You might be able to use it.”
Erica glanced beneath her chin at the pearl necklace around her neck. It was starting to click with her about what exactly Sam was implying, but it was just a desperate hope. Sam had no idea if that was how the pearl worked. Every time he used his, he had done so by holding it in his hand. Who knew if it would work to just be making physical contact with it. This was the only way to find out and it was as good of a time as any to test it and see what happened.
Dajuan turned around and clapped his hands together. He had finally made his decision. One of the three women beside Sam was going to die; they all were but only one of them would start the suffering.
Sam shot a glance to Erica who was too terrified to concentrate on using the pearl. She might only have seconds left of her life.
“Focus,” Sam hissed, trying to move his mouth as little as possible. “Just focus. Concentrate and get us the hell out of here.”
Tears were staring to form in the heiress's eyes; she was a mixture of terror, sadness, and utter hopelessness. She had probably never even seen anything bad happen from behind her family gates, up high in her ivory tower. Now, she was face to face with a real killer and some of the scariest parts of the real world.
Dajuan paced in front of them hungrily, like a tiger preparing to pounce. He was taking so much sickening pleasure in it, relishing in the suspense. Finally, he made his homicidal decision.
“I choose...you.”
He pointed at Erica and pulled a scary looking blade from his tray of death. He was smiling the whole time as he approached. Erica's tears fell down her face as she realized that she was on the chopping block.
“P-p-please!” Erica pleaded, her face contorted in a blubbering mess of tears. “Please don't do this! You don't have to! Please! Please!”
Dajuan didn't even consider her words and instead, just marched right up to her, his blade ready to put an end to her life. Sam writhed around in his seat, screaming and trying to break free from his restraints. Erica and her pearl were their last hope. If she died, then the rest of them would follow soon after—and Sam would have to watch it all unfold. He would have to see the life leave each of those girls.
“Focus, Erica!” Sam yelled, not caring if he was heard anymore. There was no point in trying to be sneaky about it now. “You have to focus!”
The blade was moving toward Erica and she leaned her head back as much as possible, sobbing in a desperate attempt to avoid the weapon's sting.
“No!” she cried. “No!”
The entire room shook violently. The metal around them groaned and twisted from the sheer force of the sudden tremor. Sam could practically feel his own bones rattle and his teeth chatter together. He winced. Everything around him—the entire world, it felt like—was horribly rocking off kilter.
Dajuan backed away, looking all around the quivering warehouse in surprise.
“What is this!?” he yelled to one of his men, but they all were just as startled as he was. “What is happening!?”
If there were any scientists with their ears to the ground, they were probably picking up the power of this particular earthquake. It must have nearly destroyed the Richter scale entirely. It might have been in a very small radius but the magnitude of it must have been enormous to be causing this much of a stir.
Sam looked to Erica whose watery eyes were narrow and full of contempt, and he saw her need to survive. She was certainly focusing on keeping herself from being murdered and the pearl around her neck was responding accordingly. Sam was just glad that the pearl didn't need to be in her hand to work.
The legs of the chair that Erica was sitting on snapped off and she landed hard on the floor but that still didn't stop the tremor. She managed to get her hands free from the broken seat.
Some of the equipment around the warehouse fell and clattered on the cement floor. The tray of knives fell down, making the blades clatter all over the floor.
Dajuan looked like a rabid animal, frustrated by the sudden interruption. He glared at the building that continued to shake but his surprise dissipated. Now his need to spill blood took over and he act
ed like this earthquake was just some minor inconvenience. He regained his footing, raised his blade, and took another threatening step toward Erica. He was looking to resume his work. Erica's face swelled with panic again, but this time there was anger too.
“No!” she roared again.
This tremor was much stronger than the last. The building around them shrieked and wobbled. Dajuan looked up again, as the structures above them fell apart. A section of the warehouse's roof caved in, collapsing right over Dajuan. He dove backward, just narrowly avoiding the debris as it poured down right in front of Erica. More of the roof gave way next. Soon enough, girders and sheets of metal piled on top of one another until they formed an impassable wall between the side of the warehouse that the prisoners were on and the side with their captors.
Erica got to her feet, looking bewildered at the destruction she caused. She was flustered for a few seconds before she realized the others were still tied up. She hurried over and started untying their hands. They were all very clearly still in shock from the ordeal but there wasn't time to recover. Who knew how long Dajuan might be distracted. Ideally, he would have been trapped beneath the wreckage but Sam highly doubted it. The worst people always managed to get out of situations like that unscathed, so they could continue to be a plague upon the world.
“We need to get out of here,” he said.
Sam took a step toward the exit but realized that they didn't have the first pearl. He scanned the floor by the debris, nervous that it was buried beneath the rubble or was now stuck on the other side of the scrap barrier with Dajuan and his men. Thankfully, he caught sight of it on the floor beside the tray of torture instruments that was knocked over during the quake. He hurried over to it and picked it up, making sure to hold it tight.
If they lost one of the pearls, this whole expedition would be a lost cause and be impossible to complete. At least now he was armed with a weapon again if they ran into any more trouble. With both pearls being wielded by himself and Erica, they should be able to handle most obstacles that got in their path.
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